Posted on Dec 4, 2018
Going Long: Carlson's Marine Raiders and Guadalcanal
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On December 4, 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Carlson’s patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends. From the article:
"Going Long: Carlson's Marine Raiders and Guadalcanal
By David Sears
8/14/2016 • World War II Magazine
Bonfires lit the beaches of Aola Bay on Guadalcanal’s northeast shore as two companies of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion splashed ashore before dawn on November 4, 1942.
The Raiders—led by Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson—were joining U.S. Army and Marine Corps ground forces under the command of Marine Major General Alexander Vandegrift in the battle for the largest of the Solomon Islands—then raging for nearly three months. American units controlled a knobby headland at Lunga Point, where they seized a Japanese airstrip, christening it Henderson Field after Major Lofton Henderson, a Marine flier killed at Midway. Now Vandegrift wanted to expand the Americans’ toehold on Guadalcanal with a second airstrip east of Aola Bay.
After a near-disastrous raid at Makin Atoll in August 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson saw on Guadalcanal an opportunity for redemption.
Carlson’s 2nd Raiders were to secure the beachhead for the arrival of naval construction workers and army garrison troops, then leave aboard supply and transport ships. But as the battalion was setting foot on the island, Japanese destroyers landed 1,500 reinforcements halfway between Lunga Point and Aola, and the 2nd Raiders’ mission took a sharp turn. Vandegrift deployed Marine and army units to ambush the new Japanese arrivals, and ordered Carlson’s Raiders to mop up enemy soldiers who managed to escape the trap. Then the Raiders were to clear areas of enemy activity west of the Henderson Field perimeter. It was a straight-line distance of just over 18 miles, but the men would not be traveling in a straight line over open terrain. Instead, they would be forced to hack their way through dense, unforgiving jungle foliage in extreme heat.
On November 6, the Raiders, accompanied by 150 native scouts and porters, set out for the Bokokimbo River in a snaking, mile-long line. Rolling coastal hills and plains gave way to condensed, dark green jungle interspersed with sunbaked clearings. Beyond the jungle loomed a jagged blue-green spine of volcanic peaks, some towering nearly 8,000 feet. The Bokokimbo was 10 miles away, but the men’s heavy packs and the thick “wait-a-minute vines,” razor-sharp kunai grass, swollen creeks, and muddy swamps slowed their progress. The Raiders covered only five miles that day, prompting their lean, hawk-faced commander to take the lead and accelerate the pace. Evans Carlson was an impatient man and he had much to prove—for himself and for his Marine Raiders.
IN THE TRADITION-BOUND Marine Corps, Carlson was an iconoclast and an anomaly, a tactical theorist with a literary and philosophical bent, and possessed an unusual circle of acquaintances. During a military tour as an American language and intelligence officer in China in the late 1930s, Carlson was an observer with Mao Zedong’s Eighth Route Army as they outfoxed the Japanese. He was intrigued by their emphasis on small unit tactics and flexible, guerrilla-style raids. He admired how the Communists stripped away most of the distinctions between officers and enlisted men and, after battles, did not mistreat their prisoners. From his experience, Carlson adapted an ethos he called “Gung Ho”—an Anglicization of Chinese for “work” and “together.”
When the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, created the Marine Raiders in February 1942, he tapped Carlson to command 2nd Battalion. Carlson incorporated Gung Ho into their regimen and adopted a Spartan lifestyle for his Raiders. He instructed his men not only how to fight, but to understand why they fought. He also emphasized a Darwinian approach to leadership—any officer who failed to meet Carlson’s standards would be swiftly relieved of command.
Carlson put the 2nd Raiders to the test at Makin Atoll in August 1942, but the unit had underperformed and the mission had come close to failure. Intended as a swift guerrilla-style strike to divert the Japanese from the American invasion at Guadalcanal, the action instead devolved into a conventional firefight, with Carlson reacting to the enemy rather than seizing the initiative. The Raiders made repeated attempts to evacuate the island amidst chaos, with waves swamping many of their rubber landing craft, stripping them of weapons, supplies, and even clothes. In those uneasy hours, an exhausted Carlson overestimated the enemy presence. He dispatched terms of surrender to the Japanese commander, but the messenger was killed before delivering the note. And when the Raiders finally made it off the atoll, during the pandemonium of their escape they unintentionally left behind nine men, whom the Japanese captured and later beheaded. “The way it ended up,” recalled B Company Private Ben Carson, “It was damn near ‘every man for himself.’”
Raiders fighting retreating Japanese units also battled the island’s dense jungles and rivers.
Desperate for heroes and good news, the American public celebrated the Makin Raid as a victory and greeted the exhausted Raiders as conquering heroes. But Admiral Chester W. Nimitz later criticized Carlson, especially for entertaining the notion of surrender. And Carlson himself was all too aware that the reality of the Makin Raid was far from what the public envisioned.
Now, three months later, with Vandegrift’s open-ended orders to find, pursue, and destroy Japanese forces on Guadalcanal, Carlson saw an opportunity for redemption—a chance to validate his unorthodox, idiosyncratic Gung Ho doctrine, get 2nd Raiders back on track, and maneuver on his terms to find and destroy the enemy.
ON NOVEMBER 7, the Raiders’ long column reached a deserted riverside village littered with empty Japanese ration boxes and cigarette packs. Carlson halted, posted sentries, and permitted his men to bathe. That afternoon, they heard rifle fire echo across the Bokokimbo River. The Raiders grabbed their weapons and waded across the neck-deep water. There, they surprised Japanese foragers. Three or four fled, but the Marines killed two. “They’d killed a hog for dinner,” remembered C Company Raider Darrell Loveland. “Of course we left them in the jungle and roasted the hog.”
Starting the next day, the Raider column bent northwest to Binu, the westernmost of the villages still occupied by locals. Carlson established base camp there to await the remainder of his battalion—the B, D, and F Companies, who hiked overnight through torrential rain to link up with Carlson’s command group on November 10. The Raider force, now totaling about 600 men in five companies, was just three miles east of where 1,000 Japanese were reported to be retreating south along the Metapona River.
On the dawn of November 11, Carlson assigned four patrols to scour the Metapona from Asamana, a village northward to the coast. The patrols would fan out ahead of his command group, arrayed laterally south to north. He believed the formation would give him maximum flexibility to meet threats as they arose.
Soon after 10 a.m., the southernmost patrol, Captain Harold Throneson’s C Company, stumbled into a wooded enemy bivouac, killing about two dozen Japanese. However the enemy recovered quickly, pinning down the Marines with rifle, machine gun, and mortar fire. Recalled C Company’s Loveland: “They had us in a hurting position.”
Throneson radioed his situation to Binu base camp, and Carlson sniffed an opportunity: with the Japanese force engaged with C Company, he could swing one of his other companies around the distracted enemy forces. He ordered Captain Charles McAuliffe’s D Company to move toward Throneson’s men while Captain Richard Washburn’s E Company maneuvered south and hit the Japanese from the rear.
One of Washburn’s platoon commanders in E Company was Carlson’s son— 1st Lieutenant Evans C. Carlson, who had tried four times to transfer into 2nd Raiders. His father, reluctant to appear to play favorites, had denied each request. When the lieutenant put in his fifth request, however, the battalion’s officers helped persuade their commander to allow his son into the unit.
With young Carlson in the lead, Washburn’s men reached Asamana, where they killed a handful of Japanese fording the Metapona. Washburn suspected that Throneson and his force had run afoul of a rear guard positioned to protect the main enemy force crossing the Metapona, and aligned his platoons in an ambush anchored by light machine guns. The gambit felled many more Japanese mid-stream—but the enemy rallied. Washburn’s men withdrew into the jungle, regrouped, and mounted an audacious counterattack. At noon, as two of his platoons charged straight at the enemy, a third got behind the Japanese and hit them with deadly crossfire from the east.
A standoff of charge and countercharge lasted into the afternoon with the two sides closed to within 30 paces of each other. By mid-afternoon, Washburn’s Marines, exhausted and parched, were running low on ammunition and water. When a sudden enemy mortar barrage signaled a renewed attack, Washburn withdrew his company north through a gully. Two of his men had been killed and another mortally wounded, but E Company had killed some 130 Japanese.
Marines take a breather in Guadalcanal’s extreme heat. Climate and illness claimed more Raiders than did the Japanese, with 225 falling sick during their long patrol
Not all the Raiders performed as well. While leading D Company southward, McAuliffe and his nine-man squad came under heavy fire that separated them from the rest of the company and blocked their efforts to rejoin them. McAuliffe finally extracted his squad and returned to Binu, reporting that the rest of D Company had been wiped out. Carlson was furious—and doubly so when D Company’s gunnery sergeant arrived a few minutes later with the remainder of the Marines, very much alive.
As the day wore on, Throneson called in mortar fire on the Japanese as most of C Company’s pinned-down squads scrambled to reach the relative safety of the tree line. Throneson himself, however, stayed put. Carlson arrived with elements from two companies, whose advances revealed that the main Japanese force was pulling out. He radioed for aircraft to bomb and strafe the retreating Japanese for the remainder of the day and, after dark, returned to Binu.
True to his strict, unforgiving approach to leadership, Carlson swiftly relieved Captains McAuliffe and Throneson of command. He tacitly acknowledged their valor, but could not ignore that under duress Throneson had failed to take the offensive, while McAuliffe had gotten separated from his command. Still, 2nd Raiders had earned a decisive and indisputable victory, eliminating around 160 enemy soldiers at a cost of 10 killed and 13 wounded. Carlson soon reprised his improvisational ways—instead of exposing his main body to possible ambush, he would now set traps with smaller patrols, then flank and envelop the Japanese in force.
He also discarded his benevolent, Mao-style stance on POWs. The day after the Asamana battle, while scouring the C Company battlefield, Raiders found the body of Private Owen Barber—staked to the ground, mutilated, and castrated. “If you take a prisoner,” Carlson told the Marines. “He’s gotta eat your food, he’s gotta drink your water, and you gotta worry about having your throat cut.” Henceforth, the Raiders took no prisoners.
BEGINNING NOVEMBER 12, Carlson’s men aggressively cleared the area south of Binu and west to Henderson Field. Carlson realized the enemy used Asamana as a rendezvous point, and constructed a hunter’s blind. During the first 18 hours, Marines bushwhacked 25 enemy stragglers—most of them messengers unaware the Marines had overrun the position. He allowed larger groups of foliage-cloaked enemy troops into mortar range and hit them, too. After two days and two nights, another 116 Japanese lay dead with no Raider casualties.
A sign lists the 2nd Raider campaigns fought within a six-month span of 1942.
As Carlson was clearing and advancing across Guadalcanal, his company commanders, too, were coming into their own. “We were running into small groups of Japanese who’d become separated,” said B Company’s Ben Carson. “We were wiping them out with flanking operations all the time.”
On November 14, Captain William Schwerin was leading an F Company patrol south of Binu when they happened onto a small Japanese position on the west bank of the Balesuna River. Schwerin scouted the area and noticed a lone sentry guarding a narrow entrance. When other Japanese soldiers called the guard for chow, Schwerin led his men in threes through the entrance and into position for an attack. “When you hear my shotgun,” Schwerin whispered, “give ‘em hell!” He edged closer to the defile where the enemy soldiers were eating. He fired; the Marines killed 15 Japanese.
On November 17, Carlson reached the Henderson Field perimeter and conferred with Vandegrift, who then ordered the 2nd Raiders to swing south to pursue Japanese remnants, silence their artillery, and disrupt their supply lines.
Doing so, however, meant battling Guadalcanal itself: smothering foliage, wearisome heat and humidity, vermin, and especially disease: malaria, jaundice, dysentery, and “jungle rot,” as Marines called ringworm. “All of us had sores on our legs. We were wading streams and rivers all the time,” Ben Carson said. “Our corpsmen were running out of medication.” A bottle of Merthiolate that Carson had brought from Hawaii was quickly emptied.
Ultimately, the environment claimed more Raiders than the enemy did. Dysentery plagued many men; some cut out the seats of their dungarees and let nature take its course. C and E companies, in the jungle the longest, saw their ranks shrink 80 percent. In their month-long odyssey, 225 Raiders got sick—six-and-a-half times the unit’s battle losses.
Moving southwest, the Raiders encountered steep coral ridges and denser jungle. By November 29, they came to a narrow spine separating the Tenaru River from the Lunga River. Roping up, then down the cliffs, they spotted two empty encampments: one with a 75mm mountain gun and another with a 37mm anti-tank gun. After destroying the Japanese weapons, the Raider squads diverged to scout two rain-soaked trails near the Lunga. Along one trail, F Company’s Corporal John Yancey stumbled across an enemy bivouac—100 Japanese soldiers, their weapons stacked. Yancey and his six men instinctively started shooting, which disrupted the surprised enemy enough for the Marines to rush to better firing positions.
“What up?” William Schwerin asked over the din.
“I’ve flushed a covey,” Yancey shouted. “Send up a squad!”
In 30 minutes of lethal precision, with Americans shouting “Hi, Raider!” to identify themselves and avoid crossfire, Yancey’s fire teams killed 75 enemy soldiers, earning Yancey a Navy Cross.
Finally, Carlson was able to report no major Japanese movement to the east. Vandegrift ordered 2nd Raiders back to Henderson Field. Carlson’s men were now a few miles to the southwest; between them and the Marine perimeter loomed Mount Austen, a 1,500-foot peak. The Japanese held the summit. Carlson told Washburn to shepherd the three most exhausted companies—C, D, and E—around the mountain and back to Henderson Field. He would lead the A, B, and F Companies up the mountain.
On December 3, in steady rain, Carlson led the three companies in scaling Mount Austen’s south face. “It was arduous,” recalled Gene Hasenberg, who gutted out the six-hour ascent on an ankle painfully throbbing from a boil he had just lanced. Marines seized the crest, from which a series of ridges radiated. An encounter with a Japanese patrol soon exploded into a two-hour battle, with each side desperately trying to envelop the other through dense vegetation. “We had them outnumbered and we had so much automatic firepower,” Ben Carson said. “I figured the BAR I carried saved my life on Mount Austen.” When the shooting was over, 25 Japanese lay dead. Four Raiders were wounded, with one—A Company’s 1st Lieutenant Jack Miller—seriously hurt. The next day, while descending hastily to get Miller to the Marine perimeter for surgery, Carlson’s lead elements strode into a Japanese ambush. During the two hours needed to rout the enemy, Miller died—a mournful prelude to the Raiders’ arrival to Henderson Field that afternoon.
Two companies helped defend Midway Island from Japanese aerial attack in June, before Carlson (left, with Major Ralph Coyte) led the battalion on Makin and Guadalcanal. After their month-long patrol, the Raiders (above) were mentally and physically exhausted, but satisfied with their success in decimating Japanese forces across Guadalcanal.
Despite the toll that death and illness took on 2nd Raider Battalion, their long patrol was a tactical success. For Carlson, the battalion’s actions helped validate not only their fighting prowess, but also the new, unorthodox doctrine he had worked so hard to instill in them.
A Marine colonel, greeting the column of ragged, skinny men treading into the safety of 1st Marine Division lines—many of them bearded after a month without razors—offered to drive them to Henderson Field. Carlson thanked the colonel but declined his offer. After having survived a month in the Guadalcanal wilds, accomplishing the objectives his way, and accounting for 500 Japanese dead with only 16 Americans killed and 18 wounded, the leader of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion had one more thing to prove.
“The Raiders walked in,” Carlson said. “The Raiders will walk out.”✯"
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen F. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen TSgt David L. SPC Woody Bullard Lt Col Charlie Brown SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SFC Shirley Whitfield PVT Mark Zehner SPC Margaret Higgins Maj Marty Hogan LTC Greg Henning Maj William W. 'Bill' Price SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT John " Mac " McConnell SPC Douglas Bolton Alan K.. CPL Dave Hoover. Sgt Randy Wilber
"Going Long: Carlson's Marine Raiders and Guadalcanal
By David Sears
8/14/2016 • World War II Magazine
Bonfires lit the beaches of Aola Bay on Guadalcanal’s northeast shore as two companies of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion splashed ashore before dawn on November 4, 1942.
The Raiders—led by Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson—were joining U.S. Army and Marine Corps ground forces under the command of Marine Major General Alexander Vandegrift in the battle for the largest of the Solomon Islands—then raging for nearly three months. American units controlled a knobby headland at Lunga Point, where they seized a Japanese airstrip, christening it Henderson Field after Major Lofton Henderson, a Marine flier killed at Midway. Now Vandegrift wanted to expand the Americans’ toehold on Guadalcanal with a second airstrip east of Aola Bay.
After a near-disastrous raid at Makin Atoll in August 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson saw on Guadalcanal an opportunity for redemption.
Carlson’s 2nd Raiders were to secure the beachhead for the arrival of naval construction workers and army garrison troops, then leave aboard supply and transport ships. But as the battalion was setting foot on the island, Japanese destroyers landed 1,500 reinforcements halfway between Lunga Point and Aola, and the 2nd Raiders’ mission took a sharp turn. Vandegrift deployed Marine and army units to ambush the new Japanese arrivals, and ordered Carlson’s Raiders to mop up enemy soldiers who managed to escape the trap. Then the Raiders were to clear areas of enemy activity west of the Henderson Field perimeter. It was a straight-line distance of just over 18 miles, but the men would not be traveling in a straight line over open terrain. Instead, they would be forced to hack their way through dense, unforgiving jungle foliage in extreme heat.
On November 6, the Raiders, accompanied by 150 native scouts and porters, set out for the Bokokimbo River in a snaking, mile-long line. Rolling coastal hills and plains gave way to condensed, dark green jungle interspersed with sunbaked clearings. Beyond the jungle loomed a jagged blue-green spine of volcanic peaks, some towering nearly 8,000 feet. The Bokokimbo was 10 miles away, but the men’s heavy packs and the thick “wait-a-minute vines,” razor-sharp kunai grass, swollen creeks, and muddy swamps slowed their progress. The Raiders covered only five miles that day, prompting their lean, hawk-faced commander to take the lead and accelerate the pace. Evans Carlson was an impatient man and he had much to prove—for himself and for his Marine Raiders.
IN THE TRADITION-BOUND Marine Corps, Carlson was an iconoclast and an anomaly, a tactical theorist with a literary and philosophical bent, and possessed an unusual circle of acquaintances. During a military tour as an American language and intelligence officer in China in the late 1930s, Carlson was an observer with Mao Zedong’s Eighth Route Army as they outfoxed the Japanese. He was intrigued by their emphasis on small unit tactics and flexible, guerrilla-style raids. He admired how the Communists stripped away most of the distinctions between officers and enlisted men and, after battles, did not mistreat their prisoners. From his experience, Carlson adapted an ethos he called “Gung Ho”—an Anglicization of Chinese for “work” and “together.”
When the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, created the Marine Raiders in February 1942, he tapped Carlson to command 2nd Battalion. Carlson incorporated Gung Ho into their regimen and adopted a Spartan lifestyle for his Raiders. He instructed his men not only how to fight, but to understand why they fought. He also emphasized a Darwinian approach to leadership—any officer who failed to meet Carlson’s standards would be swiftly relieved of command.
Carlson put the 2nd Raiders to the test at Makin Atoll in August 1942, but the unit had underperformed and the mission had come close to failure. Intended as a swift guerrilla-style strike to divert the Japanese from the American invasion at Guadalcanal, the action instead devolved into a conventional firefight, with Carlson reacting to the enemy rather than seizing the initiative. The Raiders made repeated attempts to evacuate the island amidst chaos, with waves swamping many of their rubber landing craft, stripping them of weapons, supplies, and even clothes. In those uneasy hours, an exhausted Carlson overestimated the enemy presence. He dispatched terms of surrender to the Japanese commander, but the messenger was killed before delivering the note. And when the Raiders finally made it off the atoll, during the pandemonium of their escape they unintentionally left behind nine men, whom the Japanese captured and later beheaded. “The way it ended up,” recalled B Company Private Ben Carson, “It was damn near ‘every man for himself.’”
Raiders fighting retreating Japanese units also battled the island’s dense jungles and rivers.
Desperate for heroes and good news, the American public celebrated the Makin Raid as a victory and greeted the exhausted Raiders as conquering heroes. But Admiral Chester W. Nimitz later criticized Carlson, especially for entertaining the notion of surrender. And Carlson himself was all too aware that the reality of the Makin Raid was far from what the public envisioned.
Now, three months later, with Vandegrift’s open-ended orders to find, pursue, and destroy Japanese forces on Guadalcanal, Carlson saw an opportunity for redemption—a chance to validate his unorthodox, idiosyncratic Gung Ho doctrine, get 2nd Raiders back on track, and maneuver on his terms to find and destroy the enemy.
ON NOVEMBER 7, the Raiders’ long column reached a deserted riverside village littered with empty Japanese ration boxes and cigarette packs. Carlson halted, posted sentries, and permitted his men to bathe. That afternoon, they heard rifle fire echo across the Bokokimbo River. The Raiders grabbed their weapons and waded across the neck-deep water. There, they surprised Japanese foragers. Three or four fled, but the Marines killed two. “They’d killed a hog for dinner,” remembered C Company Raider Darrell Loveland. “Of course we left them in the jungle and roasted the hog.”
Starting the next day, the Raider column bent northwest to Binu, the westernmost of the villages still occupied by locals. Carlson established base camp there to await the remainder of his battalion—the B, D, and F Companies, who hiked overnight through torrential rain to link up with Carlson’s command group on November 10. The Raider force, now totaling about 600 men in five companies, was just three miles east of where 1,000 Japanese were reported to be retreating south along the Metapona River.
On the dawn of November 11, Carlson assigned four patrols to scour the Metapona from Asamana, a village northward to the coast. The patrols would fan out ahead of his command group, arrayed laterally south to north. He believed the formation would give him maximum flexibility to meet threats as they arose.
Soon after 10 a.m., the southernmost patrol, Captain Harold Throneson’s C Company, stumbled into a wooded enemy bivouac, killing about two dozen Japanese. However the enemy recovered quickly, pinning down the Marines with rifle, machine gun, and mortar fire. Recalled C Company’s Loveland: “They had us in a hurting position.”
Throneson radioed his situation to Binu base camp, and Carlson sniffed an opportunity: with the Japanese force engaged with C Company, he could swing one of his other companies around the distracted enemy forces. He ordered Captain Charles McAuliffe’s D Company to move toward Throneson’s men while Captain Richard Washburn’s E Company maneuvered south and hit the Japanese from the rear.
One of Washburn’s platoon commanders in E Company was Carlson’s son— 1st Lieutenant Evans C. Carlson, who had tried four times to transfer into 2nd Raiders. His father, reluctant to appear to play favorites, had denied each request. When the lieutenant put in his fifth request, however, the battalion’s officers helped persuade their commander to allow his son into the unit.
With young Carlson in the lead, Washburn’s men reached Asamana, where they killed a handful of Japanese fording the Metapona. Washburn suspected that Throneson and his force had run afoul of a rear guard positioned to protect the main enemy force crossing the Metapona, and aligned his platoons in an ambush anchored by light machine guns. The gambit felled many more Japanese mid-stream—but the enemy rallied. Washburn’s men withdrew into the jungle, regrouped, and mounted an audacious counterattack. At noon, as two of his platoons charged straight at the enemy, a third got behind the Japanese and hit them with deadly crossfire from the east.
A standoff of charge and countercharge lasted into the afternoon with the two sides closed to within 30 paces of each other. By mid-afternoon, Washburn’s Marines, exhausted and parched, were running low on ammunition and water. When a sudden enemy mortar barrage signaled a renewed attack, Washburn withdrew his company north through a gully. Two of his men had been killed and another mortally wounded, but E Company had killed some 130 Japanese.
Marines take a breather in Guadalcanal’s extreme heat. Climate and illness claimed more Raiders than did the Japanese, with 225 falling sick during their long patrol
Not all the Raiders performed as well. While leading D Company southward, McAuliffe and his nine-man squad came under heavy fire that separated them from the rest of the company and blocked their efforts to rejoin them. McAuliffe finally extracted his squad and returned to Binu, reporting that the rest of D Company had been wiped out. Carlson was furious—and doubly so when D Company’s gunnery sergeant arrived a few minutes later with the remainder of the Marines, very much alive.
As the day wore on, Throneson called in mortar fire on the Japanese as most of C Company’s pinned-down squads scrambled to reach the relative safety of the tree line. Throneson himself, however, stayed put. Carlson arrived with elements from two companies, whose advances revealed that the main Japanese force was pulling out. He radioed for aircraft to bomb and strafe the retreating Japanese for the remainder of the day and, after dark, returned to Binu.
True to his strict, unforgiving approach to leadership, Carlson swiftly relieved Captains McAuliffe and Throneson of command. He tacitly acknowledged their valor, but could not ignore that under duress Throneson had failed to take the offensive, while McAuliffe had gotten separated from his command. Still, 2nd Raiders had earned a decisive and indisputable victory, eliminating around 160 enemy soldiers at a cost of 10 killed and 13 wounded. Carlson soon reprised his improvisational ways—instead of exposing his main body to possible ambush, he would now set traps with smaller patrols, then flank and envelop the Japanese in force.
He also discarded his benevolent, Mao-style stance on POWs. The day after the Asamana battle, while scouring the C Company battlefield, Raiders found the body of Private Owen Barber—staked to the ground, mutilated, and castrated. “If you take a prisoner,” Carlson told the Marines. “He’s gotta eat your food, he’s gotta drink your water, and you gotta worry about having your throat cut.” Henceforth, the Raiders took no prisoners.
BEGINNING NOVEMBER 12, Carlson’s men aggressively cleared the area south of Binu and west to Henderson Field. Carlson realized the enemy used Asamana as a rendezvous point, and constructed a hunter’s blind. During the first 18 hours, Marines bushwhacked 25 enemy stragglers—most of them messengers unaware the Marines had overrun the position. He allowed larger groups of foliage-cloaked enemy troops into mortar range and hit them, too. After two days and two nights, another 116 Japanese lay dead with no Raider casualties.
A sign lists the 2nd Raider campaigns fought within a six-month span of 1942.
As Carlson was clearing and advancing across Guadalcanal, his company commanders, too, were coming into their own. “We were running into small groups of Japanese who’d become separated,” said B Company’s Ben Carson. “We were wiping them out with flanking operations all the time.”
On November 14, Captain William Schwerin was leading an F Company patrol south of Binu when they happened onto a small Japanese position on the west bank of the Balesuna River. Schwerin scouted the area and noticed a lone sentry guarding a narrow entrance. When other Japanese soldiers called the guard for chow, Schwerin led his men in threes through the entrance and into position for an attack. “When you hear my shotgun,” Schwerin whispered, “give ‘em hell!” He edged closer to the defile where the enemy soldiers were eating. He fired; the Marines killed 15 Japanese.
On November 17, Carlson reached the Henderson Field perimeter and conferred with Vandegrift, who then ordered the 2nd Raiders to swing south to pursue Japanese remnants, silence their artillery, and disrupt their supply lines.
Doing so, however, meant battling Guadalcanal itself: smothering foliage, wearisome heat and humidity, vermin, and especially disease: malaria, jaundice, dysentery, and “jungle rot,” as Marines called ringworm. “All of us had sores on our legs. We were wading streams and rivers all the time,” Ben Carson said. “Our corpsmen were running out of medication.” A bottle of Merthiolate that Carson had brought from Hawaii was quickly emptied.
Ultimately, the environment claimed more Raiders than the enemy did. Dysentery plagued many men; some cut out the seats of their dungarees and let nature take its course. C and E companies, in the jungle the longest, saw their ranks shrink 80 percent. In their month-long odyssey, 225 Raiders got sick—six-and-a-half times the unit’s battle losses.
Moving southwest, the Raiders encountered steep coral ridges and denser jungle. By November 29, they came to a narrow spine separating the Tenaru River from the Lunga River. Roping up, then down the cliffs, they spotted two empty encampments: one with a 75mm mountain gun and another with a 37mm anti-tank gun. After destroying the Japanese weapons, the Raider squads diverged to scout two rain-soaked trails near the Lunga. Along one trail, F Company’s Corporal John Yancey stumbled across an enemy bivouac—100 Japanese soldiers, their weapons stacked. Yancey and his six men instinctively started shooting, which disrupted the surprised enemy enough for the Marines to rush to better firing positions.
“What up?” William Schwerin asked over the din.
“I’ve flushed a covey,” Yancey shouted. “Send up a squad!”
In 30 minutes of lethal precision, with Americans shouting “Hi, Raider!” to identify themselves and avoid crossfire, Yancey’s fire teams killed 75 enemy soldiers, earning Yancey a Navy Cross.
Finally, Carlson was able to report no major Japanese movement to the east. Vandegrift ordered 2nd Raiders back to Henderson Field. Carlson’s men were now a few miles to the southwest; between them and the Marine perimeter loomed Mount Austen, a 1,500-foot peak. The Japanese held the summit. Carlson told Washburn to shepherd the three most exhausted companies—C, D, and E—around the mountain and back to Henderson Field. He would lead the A, B, and F Companies up the mountain.
On December 3, in steady rain, Carlson led the three companies in scaling Mount Austen’s south face. “It was arduous,” recalled Gene Hasenberg, who gutted out the six-hour ascent on an ankle painfully throbbing from a boil he had just lanced. Marines seized the crest, from which a series of ridges radiated. An encounter with a Japanese patrol soon exploded into a two-hour battle, with each side desperately trying to envelop the other through dense vegetation. “We had them outnumbered and we had so much automatic firepower,” Ben Carson said. “I figured the BAR I carried saved my life on Mount Austen.” When the shooting was over, 25 Japanese lay dead. Four Raiders were wounded, with one—A Company’s 1st Lieutenant Jack Miller—seriously hurt. The next day, while descending hastily to get Miller to the Marine perimeter for surgery, Carlson’s lead elements strode into a Japanese ambush. During the two hours needed to rout the enemy, Miller died—a mournful prelude to the Raiders’ arrival to Henderson Field that afternoon.
Two companies helped defend Midway Island from Japanese aerial attack in June, before Carlson (left, with Major Ralph Coyte) led the battalion on Makin and Guadalcanal. After their month-long patrol, the Raiders (above) were mentally and physically exhausted, but satisfied with their success in decimating Japanese forces across Guadalcanal.
Despite the toll that death and illness took on 2nd Raider Battalion, their long patrol was a tactical success. For Carlson, the battalion’s actions helped validate not only their fighting prowess, but also the new, unorthodox doctrine he had worked so hard to instill in them.
A Marine colonel, greeting the column of ragged, skinny men treading into the safety of 1st Marine Division lines—many of them bearded after a month without razors—offered to drive them to Henderson Field. Carlson thanked the colonel but declined his offer. After having survived a month in the Guadalcanal wilds, accomplishing the objectives his way, and accounting for 500 Japanese dead with only 16 Americans killed and 18 wounded, the leader of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion had one more thing to prove.
“The Raiders walked in,” Carlson said. “The Raiders will walk out.”✯"
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen F. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen TSgt David L. SPC Woody Bullard Lt Col Charlie Brown SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SFC Shirley Whitfield PVT Mark Zehner SPC Margaret Higgins Maj Marty Hogan LTC Greg Henning Maj William W. 'Bill' Price SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT John " Mac " McConnell SPC Douglas Bolton Alan K.. CPL Dave Hoover. Sgt Randy Wilber
Going Long: Carlson's Marine Raiders and Guadalcanal
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Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson and his US 2nd Marine Raider Battalion at a camp...HD Stock...
Link to order this clip: http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675074833_Colonel-Evans-Carlson_2nd-Marine-Raider-Battalion_natives-at-camp Historic Stock Foota...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for sharing the WWII Magazine article "Going Long: Carlson's Marine Raiders and Guadalcanal."
Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson and his US 2nd Marine Raider Battalion at a camp...HD Stock Footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtYA4u_wmwQ
Here is an extensive timeline background on the 1942 operations on Guadalcanal for continuity.
Guadalcanal Campaign Timeline from ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=9
25 May 1942 Engineers and staff officers of the Japanese 25th Air Flotilla and 8th Base Force departed Rabaul, New Britain by flying boat to inspect prospective airfield building sites on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
27 May 1942 Engineers and staff officers of the Japanese 25th Air Flotilla and 8th Base Force arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands by flying boat to inspect prospective airfield building sites.
29 May 1942 Long range Catalina flying boats of No. 11 and No. 20 squadrons RAAF made their first raid against the Solomon Islands base at Tulagi, which had already been attacked by US carrier aircraft earlier in the month.
1 Jun 1942 Rear Admiral Sadayoshi Yamada asked Vice Admiral Nishizo Tsukahara for the authorization to build an airfield on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
18 Jun 1942 The first Allied air photographic reconnaissance mission over Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands was conducted by US 435th Bombardment Squadron.
25 Jun 1942 Ernest King ordered the preparation for an offensive in the lower Solomon Islands; Santa Cruz, Tulagi, and other nearby islands were to be assaulted by US Marines. To that end, US PBY Catalina aircraft bombed Tulagi. US Army also began to form occupation garrisons for the occupation of these islands. The planned launch date for the offensive was set for 1 Aug 1942.
26 Jun 1942 US Marine Corps Major General Alexander Vandegrift received word that Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings in the Solomon Islands were being planned.
30 Jun 1942 At a meeting headed by Ernest King and George Marshall, US military leadership finally settled their inter-service rivalry by moving the boundary of SOWESPAC (South West Pacific Command) and SOPAC (South Pacific Command) by 1 degree, or 60 miles, in order to facilitate the planned assault on Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
2 Jul 1942 The US 1st Marine Division's intelligence officer departed Wellington, New Zealand for Australia as part of the preparation efforts for the upcoming Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings in the Solomon Islands.
4 Jul 1942 Allied reconnaissance reported that the Japanese had begun building an airfield on Guadalcanal.
5 Jul 1942 Joseph Rochefort's cryptanalytic team in Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii decrypted an intercepted Japanese Navy radio message noting that engineering units were en route to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands to construct an airfield.
6 Jul 1942 Japanese construction crews arrived at Lunga Point, Guadalcanal.
6 Jul 1942 Kinryu Maru, another transport, and five destroyers arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands from Truk, Caroline Islands, disembarking Japanese 11th Establishment Unit, 13th Establishment Unit, 100 trucks, 4 heavy tractors, 6 steam rollers, 2 generators, 2 locomotives with cars, and other equipment necessary for building an airfield.
8 Jul 1942 Chester Nimitz issued the final plan for the lower Solomon Islands offensive scheduled to be launhed in Aug 1942.
9 Jul 1942 The construction of the Japanese airfield at Lunga Point, Guadalcanal began.
10 Jul 1942 The US Joint Chiefs of Staff issued the order to attack and occupy Tulagi and Guadalcanal.
16 Jul 1942 The Japanese began the construction of an airfield on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
17 Jul 1942 A B-17 aircraft of US 435th Bombardment Squadron conducted a photograph reconnaissance mission over Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. USMC Lieutenant Colonel Merrill Twining and Major William McKean were on board the aircraft; upon seeing the Japanese progress on the Guadalcanal airfield, he noted "I hope they build a good one. We are going to use it."
18 Jul 1942 A USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, with two US Marine Corps observers aboard, flew a reconnaissance mission over Gavutu, Guadalcanal, and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
20 Jul 1942 US 1st Marine Division issued the Operation Watchtower plans for the invasion of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
23 Jul 1942 The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in Washington DC, United States, fearful that the completion of the Japanese airfield on Guadacanal in the Solomon Islands might signal a renewed enemy advance in the South Pacific that could threaten US aid to New Zealand and Australia, agreed to Marine deployments to secure the lines of communication (Operation Watchtower).
28 Jul 1942 American PBY Catalina aircraft bombed Tulagi.
31 Jul 1942 USAAF began a 7-day bombardment against Tulagi and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, the Allied invasion force (75 warships and transports with 16,000 men on aboard) for Guadalcanal departed from Fiji.
6 Aug 1942 In the evening, construction crews at the Japanese airfield at Lunga Point, Guadalcanal were given extra rations of sake for being ahead of schedule.
7 Aug 1942 US Marines landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands with the aim of safeguarding the sea supply lines between Australia and America and to form the first of the island "stepping stones" which would carry the Americans across the Pacific to Japan; the airfield on the island provided the Marines with a vital facility. Just across the water to the north, Brigadier General William H. Rupertus, Deputy Commander of the US 1st Marine Division, led an assault on Tulagi. Lieutenant Colonel Merritt A. Edson's 1st Raider Battalion landed first, followed by Lieutenant Colonel Harold E. Rosecran's 2nd Battalion 5th Marines. The Japanese defenders put up a much stiffer resistance than their comrades on Guadalcanal but by nightfall Edsons's Marines had reached the former British residency overlooking Tulagi's harbour and dug in for the night on a hill overlooking the Japanese final positions. At the same time the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines had fought their way through to the north shore clearing the sector of enemy positions, after which they moved into support of the Raiders. The days fighting had cost the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines 56 men killed and wounded, whilst the 1st Raiders had suffered 99 casualties.
8 Aug 1942 26 Japanese G4M bombers and 12 Zero fighters based in Rabaul, New Britain attacked US ships off Guadalcanal at 1200 hours, damaging troop transport USS George F. Elliot and destroyer USS Jarvis (14 were killed); 18 G4M and 2 Zero aircraft were lost on this mission.
8 Aug 1942 In the morning, 7 Japanese cruisers and 1 destroyer under Gunichi Mikawa departed Kavieng, New Ireland and Rabaul, New Britain, sailing south without being detected; after sundown, the force caught the Allied warships by surprise off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands; the Battle of Savo Island would result in the sinking of 3 US cruisers, 1 Australian cruiser, and 1 US destroyer; 1,077 US personnel were killed in this battle.
8 Aug 1942 US Marines captured the unfinished Japanese Lunga Point Airfield at Guadalcanal at 1600 hours, which would later renamed Henderson Field by the Americans. The US Marines also captured Tulagi (307 Japanese killed, 3 Japanese captured, 45 Americans killed), Gavutu, and Tanambogo (476 Japanese killed, 20 Japanese and Koreans captured, 70 Americans killed) islands in the afternoon.
9 Aug 1942 The United States Navy retreated from the Guadalcanal area due to Japanese air attacks without being able to unload all supplies for the Marines on shore.
10 Aug 1942 Stranded, US Marines prepared artillery and defensive positions at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, in Japan, radio broadcast announced that Japanese air attacks had thus far sunk 28 Allied ships in the Guadalcanal area.
11 Aug 1942 US Marines, using captured Japanese bulldozer and various equipment, continued the construction of Lunga Point Airfield on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
12 Aug 1942 Admiral Robert Ghormley ordered US Navy Task Force 63 to devote full effort to transport supplies and personnel to Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
12 Aug 1942 US Marine Lieutenant Colonel Frank Goettge's 25-man reconnaissance patrol was attacked by Japanese troops west of Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; only 3 survived.
12 Aug 1942 William Sampson, flying a PBY Catalina aircraft, became the first pilot to have landed at Lunga Point Airfield (later Henderson Field) on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
14 Aug 1942 Japanese radio broadcast announced that Japanese air attacks had thus far sunk 29 Allied warships, 11 transports in the Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands area at a mere cost of 21 aircraft; in actuality, the Allied had only lost 6 ships.
15 Aug 1942 Destroyers USS Colhoun, USS Gregory, USS Little, and USS McKean made the first supply mission for US Marines at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
16 Aug 1942 In the Caroline Islands, Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki and 916 men departed Truk aboard 6 destroyers for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. They were tasked to recapture the Lunga Point Airfield. The remainder of the 28th Infantry Regiment embarked on slower transports, aiming to arrive a few days later.
16 Aug 1942 The captured Japanese Lunga Point Airfield at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands was renamed Henderson Field by the Americans.
18 Aug 1942 Six Japanese destroyers delivered 916 troops to Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; about 400 of them were of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Japanese Infantry Regiment who landed at Taivu Point, while the other about 500 were of the Yokosuka 5th Special Naval Landing Force who landed at Kokumbona; this was the first Japanese reinforcement of Guadalcanal by warships.
18 Aug 1942 The Americans declared that the construction of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands completed.
19 Aug 1942 At Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, the forward echelon of Marine Aircraft Group 23 (19 F4F fighters and 12 SBD-3 dive bombers) arrived.
19 Aug 1942 Japanese destroyers Kagero, Kagikaze, Maikaze, Urakaze, Isokaze, and Hamakaze landed 916 men at Taivu Point, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands at 0100 hours. Men of Company L, US 5th Marine Regiment attacked a Japanese construction battalion west of the Matanikau River at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands at midday. On the same day, Company I of the same regiment conducted an amphibious raid further west at Kokumbona. Out at sea, Japanese destroyer Hagikaze was damaged by a bomb during an attack by US B-17 bombers; 33 were killed, 13 were wounded.
20 Aug 1942 770 Japanese troops under Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki reached within a few miles of Henderson Field at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands by 0430 hours. During the day, Henderson Field received 31 US Marine fighter aircraft (19 Wildcat fighters and 12 Dauntless dive bombers) from USS Long Island, allowing air supply and evacuation of wounded to begin between Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal; the small air fleet at Henderson Field was dubbed "Cactus Air Force". In the evening, Ichiki gave the order to move foward, running into the US Marines defensive perimeter at Tenaru River by surprise around midnight.
21 Aug 1942 The first major assault by Japanese troops on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands by Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki and his 770 men commenced at about 0000 hours with poor intelligence that led him to severely underestimate American strength. At 0130 hours, a wave of 100 Japanese troops rushed across the river, supported by machine guns and mortar fire, only to be mowed down at the line manned by 2,500 Marines. At 0230 hours, another wave of 150 to 200 Japanese rushed again, suffering similar fates. A third wave attacked at 0500 hours, again suffering near 100% casualty rate. At 0700 hours, US 1st Marine Regiment counterattacked supported by light tanks and aircraft, enveloping and destroying the remnants of 2nd Battalion of Japanese 28th Infantry Regiment. The Battle of the Tenaru (Ilu) River ended with the Japanese suffering 740 killed (including Ichiki) and 15 captured; the Americans suffered 44 killed. During the day, men of the 2nd Battalion of the US 5th Regiment arrived at Guadalcanal from Tulagi as reinforcements.
22 Aug 1942 5 P-400 aircraft of the USAAF 67th Fighter Squadron joined the Cactus Air Force at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.
22 Aug 1942 US and Japanese supplying destroyers made contact in the Savo Sound off Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; Japanese destroyer Kawakaze disabled destroyer USS Blue by torpedo at 0359 hours (killing 9; she would be scuttled on the following day).
23 Aug 1942 After dark, Japanese destroyer Kagero bombarded Henderson Field from nearby Savo Sound, causing little damage.
23 Aug 1942 The remainder of Japanese 28th Infantry Regiment (1,411 troops) and several hundred Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops departed Truk, Caroline Islands aboard 3 transports for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; they were escorted by a powerful fleet of cruisers and destroyers up close and an even larger force, including fleet carriers and battleships, from a distance; at 0950 hours, the convoy was spotted by a US PBY Catalina aircraft, but the resulting carrier strike launched at 1410 hours failed to locate the convoy.
24 Aug 1942 US Marine Corps Major John L. Smith's VMF-223 Squadron based on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands accompanied by five USAAF P-39 fighters intercepted twenty-seven Japanese aircraft, shooting down ten bombers and fighters. Captain Marion E. Carl, who was to become the first USMC ace of the war, scored three of the kills. His Commanding Officer Major Smith would become the third Wildcat pilot to be awarded the Medal of Honour. Three Wildcat fighters were lost in the engagement. On the same day, 11 US Navy dive bombers arrived at Henderson Field as reinforcements.
25 Aug 1942 US Navy SBD Dauntless dive bombers damaged light cruiser Jintsu and destroyer Uzuki off Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
27 Aug 1942 9 USAAF P-40 fighters arrived at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
28 Aug 1942 General Harukichi Hyakutake attempted to reinforce Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands with 3,500 men, but the convoy was detected, attacked by Henderson Field-based US aircraft at 1805 hours, and turned back. Japanese destroyer Asagiri was sunk (122 were killed, 270 survived), and destroyers Shirakumo (2 were wounded) and Yugiri (32 were killed) were damaged; US Marine Corps lost only one aircraft in the engagement. As another Japanese fleet successfully landed troops at Taivu Point at night, it would convince the Japanese to shift strategy to reinforce only at night; these night time supply runs would later be nicknamed "Tokyo Express" by the Americans.
30 Aug 1942 Japanese aircraft attacked and sank destroyer transport USS Colhoun in the Savo Sound north of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands at 1400 hours; 51 were killed, 95 survived. Overnight, Japanese destroyer transports landed 1,000 troops on Guadalcanal.
30 Aug 1942 The rear echelon of US Marine Aircraft Group 23 arrived at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
31 Aug 1942 Before dawn, the newly arrived 1,000 fresh troops (delivered by 8 destroyers before the previous midnight) began organizing an attack toward Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. During the day, the USMC 1st Raider Battalion and the USMC 1st Parachute Battalion arrived at Guadalcanal from Tulagi as reinforcements.
1 Sep 1942 US 6th Naval Construction Battalion arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands aboard USS Betelgeuse; the unit was tasked to improve and expand Henderson Field.
4 Sep 1942 After dark, Japanese destroyers Yudachi, Hatsuyuki, and Murakumo delivered 1,000 Japanese troops at Taivu, Guadalcanal.
4 Sep 1942 Japanese barges attempting to bring artillery and heavy equipment to Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands were sunk off Santa Isabel Island by US aircraft based in Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.
4 Sep 1942 US Marine Corps 1st Raider Battalion conducted a reconnaissance mission on Savo Island, Solomon Islands, reporting it to be free of Japanese troops.
5 Sep 1942 Japanese destroyers Yudachi, Hatsuyuki, and Murakumo, having just disembarked 1,000 troops at Taivu, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands before midnight on the previous day, shelled Henderson Field. As a US Navy PBY Catalina aircraft dropped flares to illuminate the battlefield, Yudachi took advantage of the lighting, spotting destroyer-transports USS Gregory and USS Little in Savo Sound. Yudachi promptly sank both of them with gunfire off Lunga Point; 22 were killed aboard USS Gregory, 62 were killed aboard USS Little. After dawn, US aircraft based in Henderson Field sank Japanese barges attempting to bring heavy equipment onto Guadalcanal.
8 Sep 1942 At Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, Japanese troops began marching toward the US positions at Lunga. 813 men of the US Marine Corps 1st Raider Battalion landed at Taivu, destroying or capturing food, ammunition, medical supplies, documents, and a radio to disrupt the Japanese advance. After dark, Japanese cruiser Sendai and eight destroyers bombarded the US naval base on nearby Tulagi Island.
11 Sep 1942 During the day, USS Saratoga delivered aircraft to Henderson Field at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Japanese destroyers landed troops at Guadalcanal; in the past two weeks, 6,000 men were successfully delivered to the island. Meanwhile, Japanese aircraft attacked Henderson Field.
12 Sep 1942 During the day, USS Wasp delivered aircraft to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. After dark, the three-day Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal began as 6,200 Japanese troops attacked positions held by 12,500 Americans; faulty Japanese intelligence reported that the American strength was only about 2,000. The Japanese attack was supported in the air by aircraft and from the sea by cruiser Sentai and three destroyers.
13 Sep 1942 Failing to break lines held by the US Marines near Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands overnight, the Japanese attack was called off at 0550 hours. The Japanese attack resumed after sundown, penetrating the American lines before being driven back by artillery fire coming from nearby Hill 123; 500 Japanese were killed in the night's attack while the US suffered 80 killed.
14 Sep 1942 The Japanese continued to attack the defensive line held by the US Marines near Henderson Field at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands without success.
15 Sep 1942 Japanese battleships bombarded American positions on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
17 Sep 1942 The American beachhead on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands was by this date 5 miles wide and 2.5 miles deep.
18 Sep 1942 4,180 men of US 7th Marine Regiment arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. The American beachhead strength was now at 22,500 men.
23 Sep 1942 US Marines began to move toward Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
26 Sep 1942 US Marines attacked Japanese positions at the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands in failure.
7 Oct 1942 Units from US 2nd, 5th, and 7th Marine Regiment crossed the Matanikau River in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands to raid Japanese positions.
9 Oct 1942 US Marine Fighter Squadron 121 and the rear echelon of the 2nd Marine Regiment of the US 2nd Marine Division arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
11 Oct 1942 Battle of Cape Esperance off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands brought an overnight victory to the US Navy.
11 Oct 1942 USS Helena assumed position west of Savo Island, Solomon Islands in darkness, awaiting an incoming Japanese task force.
12 Oct 1942 Japanese cruiser Furutaka maneuvered herself in between flagship Aoba and American ships during Battle of Cape Esperance, saving the flagship but causing her own demise.
12 Oct 1942 USS Helena assisted in the sinking of Japanese heavy cruiser Furutaka and destroyer Fubuki.
13 Oct 1942 In the United States, the American public was made aware of the losses at the Battle of Savo Island.
13 Oct 1942 Japanese battleships Haruna and Kongo bombarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, destroying more than 40 American aircraft on the ground; they retired up New Georgia Sound at 29 knots.
13 Oct 1942 The 164th Infantry Regiment became the first US Army unit on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
14 Oct 1942 Before dawn, six Japanese destroyers landed 1,000 troops on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
15 Oct 1942 After a naval bombardment, 3,000 to 4,000 men of Japanese 230th and 16th Infantry Regiments landed at Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Despite interference from US Marine Corps SBD aircraft, 80% of the men and supplies successfully made to shore. With the arrival of these reinforcements, General Hyakutake ordered a new offensive against Henderson Field to take place on 18 Oct.
16 Oct 1942 Japanese cruisers bombarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. During the day, US Marine Aircraft Group 14 under Lieutenant Colonel Albert Cooley relieved Marine Aircraft Group 23 as the unit in charge of maintaining Henderson Field.
17 Oct 1942 Japanese cruisers bombarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
18 Oct 1942 During the night, Japanese warships again shelled Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
20 Oct 1942 A Japanese combat patrol, supported by two tanks, was driven back by men of the 3rd Battalion of the US 1st Marine Regiment west of the Matanikau River.
20 Oct 1942 Japanese Lieutenant General Masao Maruyama delayed the planned assault on Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands until 22 Oct 1942.
23 Oct 1942 Amidst heavy mortar and artillery barrages, Japanese tanks attempted to cross the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; while some successfully crossed, all were eventually driven back by US Marines.
25 Oct 1942 After nightfall, Japanese destroyers attacked American shipping in the Sealark Channel between the Florida Islands and Taivu Point of Guadalcanal.
25 Oct 1942 Before dawn, the Japanese launched an offensive on the southern flank of the American defensive line at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, aiming to capture Henderson Field; US Marines repeatedly drove back the waves of attacks.
26 Oct 1942 Men of the 1st Battalion of US 164th Infantry Division repulsed a Japanese attack on the southern flank of the Lunga Perimeter at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, another attack against Hill 67, initially penetrating into the American line, was eventually driven back by US Marines.
31 Oct 1942 US Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 132 and US Marine Fighter Squadron 211 began to arrive in sections at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
1 Nov 1942 After sundown, men of the 2nd Battalion of US 7th Marine Regiment advanced east across the base of Koli Point to the Metapona River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands to investigate reported Japanese activity.
2 Nov 1942 Two 155mm gun batteries, one of the US Army and the other US Marine Corps, landed in the Lunga Perimeter on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
3 Nov 1942 Three US Marine battalions attacked Japanese positions west of Point Cruz on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
4 Nov 1942 The Americans divided the areas of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands under their control into two sectors, with US Marine Corps Brigadier General William Rupertus overseeing the East Sector and US Army Brigadier General Edmund Sebree overseeing the West Sector. On the same day, US Army 164th Infantry Regiment and US Marine 2nd Raider Battalion marched toward Koli Point to reinforce the 7th Marine Regiment.
5 Nov 1942 The US 8th Marine Regiment and the 1st Battalion of US 10th Marine Regiment arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. US Navy Construction Battalion personnel arrived at Aola Bay, about 40 miles east of the Lunga River, to begin construction of a new airfield; they were guarded by two US Army battalions and a number of US Marine raiders. Finally, also on the same date, US Marine Major General Vandegrift ordered the US Marine 2nd Raider Battalion to move toward Koli Point in an attempt to cut off any Japanese fleeing east.
6 Nov 1942 The US 7th Marine Regiment crossed the Nalimbiu River near Koli Point on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, attacking eastward.
7 Nov 1942 US Marine Corps Brigadier General Louis Woods relieved US Marine Corps Brigadier General Roy Geiger as the commander of air operations at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
8 Nov 1942 The 164th Infantry Regiment and the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the US 7th Marine Regiment moved east toward Koli Point on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands in an attempt to envelope the Japanese forces in that area.
8 Nov 1942 William Halsey inspected Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Staying overnight, he personally experienced a Japanese naval bombardment which he later admitted filled him with fright.
9 Nov 1942 The US 7th Marine Regiment and the 2nd Brigade of the US Army 164th Infantry Regiment began an attack on the Japanese troops at Gavaga Creek, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
10 Nov 1942 The US 2nd Marine Regiment, US 8th Marine Regiment, and the US Army 164th Regiment attacked unsuccessfully westward from Point Cruz toward Kokumbona on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
11 Nov 1942 The Japanese force at Gavaga Creek, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, under a combined US Marine and US Army attack since 9 Nov, began to fall back toaward the Metapona River to avoid envelopment. Meanwhile, the US Army 182nd Infantry Regiment (less the 3rd Batalion) arrived at Guadalcanal.
12 Nov 1942 6,000 American troops landed on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
13 Nov 1942 After dark, Japanese cruisers challenged the US naval forces again by coming close to shore and bombarding Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
13 Nov 1942 Portland was struck with a torpedo in her starboard quarter during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Third Battle of Savo Island). The torpedo explosion took off Portland's two inboard propellers, jammed the rudder at five degrees to starboard, and froze the No 3 main turret. Portland could only steam in circles but still managed to fire her forward main batteries effectively, starting fires on the Japanese battleship Hiei and sinking the abandoned destroyer Yudachi.
13 Nov 1942 The First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended before dawn with the US Navy task force under Rear Admiral Daniel Callahan driving off a Japanese naval bombardment group.
13 Nov 1942 USS Helena detected Japanese warships with her radar off Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands at 0124 hours, but poor communications and general confusion caused a lack of proper action from the task force. The First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal was joined after the two sides sighted each other. USS Helena assisted in the sinking of destroyer Akatsuki and seriously damaged destroyer Amatsukaze. Captain Gilbert Hoover, commanding officer of USS Helena and the senior surviving US officer, gave the order for all Americans to disengage from battle after 40 minutes of fighting.
14 Nov 1942 After dark, the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal began with Japanese ships wiping out the American destroyer screen.
15 Nov 1942 Henderson Field a Marine Corps Air Base and was placed under the command of Colonel William Fox.
15 Nov 1942 The Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended in the early hours of the day, with the Americans fighting off the Japanese attack with effective use of radar; four surviving Japanese transports were able to accomplish their missions by delivering 2,000 troops to Guadalcanal, albeit without most of their heavy equipment.
18 Nov 1942 Men of the US Army and US Marine attacked Japanese positions near Kokumbona and the Poha River at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
22 Nov 1942 The Japanese halted a combined US Army and US Marine attack at the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
24 Nov 1942 US Marines advanced to Poho, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
25 Nov 1942 Over the course of the past 3 days, aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force 3rd Reconnaissance Squadron, US Navy Patrol Squadron 12, US Army 12th, 68th, and 70th Fighter Squadrons, and US Army 69th Bombardment Squadron arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
29 Nov 1942 Top American leadership in Washington DC agreed to relieve the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands with the US Army 25th Infantry Division. After sundown, off Tassafaronga Point, US Navy vessels turned back a small group of Japanese destroyers attempting to supply the Japanese garrison.
30 Nov 1942 Near Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, US cruisers ambushed a night time fast destroyer convoy led personally by Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka. Tanaka's quick thinking led to a Japanese victory in the Battle of Tassafaronga.
1 Dec 1942 The US 1st Marine Aviation Engineer Battalion relieved the US 6th Naval Construction Battalion on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
4 Dec 1942 US 2nd Marine Raider Battalion's "Carlson's Patrol" came to a conclusion at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
7 Dec 1942 American forces at Guadalcanal marked the first anniversary of Pearl Harbor by shelling Japanese positions from dawn to dusk in what they term a "Hate Shoot".
8 Dec 1942 The 3rd Infantry Regiment and the 132nd Regimental Combat Team, both of the US Army, arrived in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
9 Dec 1942 American operations on Guadalcanal, previously conducted by the US Marines under Major General Alexander Vandegrift, were turned over to the US Army under Major General Alexander Patch. The 1st Marine Division began its withdraw to Australia.
17 Dec 1942 US Marines captured Mt. Austen, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, troops of the 35th Infantry Regiment of the US Army 25th Division arrived on the island.
26 Dec 1942 Brigadier General Francis P. Mulcahy, currently the commanding officer of the US 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, relieved Brigadier General L. E. Woods as the commanding general of the Cactus Air Force on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
31 Dec 1942 Japanese Emperor Showa allowed his troops to evacuate Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
1 Jan 1943 The US 2nd Marine Aviation Engineer Battalion and the US Army 27th Division arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
4 Jan 1943 The US Army 161st Infantry, the US 6th Marine Regiment, and the headquarters of the US 2nd Marine Division arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
6 Jan 1943 Brigadier General Alphonse DeCarre assumed command of all US Marines on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands except for Marine aviation units.
10 Jan 1943 The US Army 25th Division launched an offensive out of the Hill 66 area between the northwest and southwest forks of the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
12 Jan 1943 On Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, the US 6th Marine Regiment and the artillery of the US 2nd Marine Division were re-assigned to a joint Army-Marine division which also included the US Army 82nd Infantry Regiment, US Army 147th Infantry Regiment, and artillery of the US Army Americal Division.
13 Jan 1943 The US 2nd Marine Division began a westward offensive on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
20 Jan 1943 The US Army 25th Division began an offensive toward Kokumbona, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
23 Jan 1943 The US Army 25th Division captured the high ground south of Kokumbona, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
25 Jan 1943 The US Composite Army-Marine Division made contact with the US Army 25th Army Division near Kokumbona, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
26 Jan 1943 The US Army-Marine joint division continued to attack westward along the northern coast of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands intending to envelope Japanese positions.
31 Jan 1943 The US 2nd Marine Regiment and 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment boarded ship to leave Guadalcanal. Some of the men were so debilitated by malaria they had to be carried on board. Observers noted that they looked like young men grown old "with their skins cracked and furrowed and wrinkled." The 2nd Marine Regiment, heading to Wellington, New Zealand for the first time, left behind on the island 263 dead.
31 Jan 1943 US Marine Corps aircraft from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands sank Japanese transport Toa Maru between Vella Lavella and Kolombangara.
1 Feb 1943 Japanese troops began to be evacuated from Guadalcanal by destroyers commanded by Rear Admiral Shintaro.
4 Feb 1943 Rear Admiral Shintaro's destroyers extracted 3,921 Japanese soldiers from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands successfully, but four of his destroyers were damaged by air attack from Henderson Field.
7 Feb 1943 The Japanese Army completed Operation Ke, the evacuation of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, as the final 1,796 soldiers were evacuated by 18 ships.
9 Feb 1943 Allied authorities declared Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands secure after Japan evacuated its remaining forces from the island.
15 Mar 1943 The Japanese Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan issued the Joint Army-Navy Central Agreement on Southeast Asia Operation order, which was largely a defensive plan with the only offensive element being the re-establishment of air superiority over Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
25 Mar 1943 A Japanese reconnaissance flight over Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands discovered about 300 Allied aircraft at the base.
7 Jun 1943 The Japanese began a renewed air offensive against Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
17 Jun 1943 In the last major air battle over Guadalcanal, Captain William D. Wells (US 8th Fighter Group) led his flight of P-39 Airacobra fighters into a formation of 30-35 Japanese Aichi Type 99 naval bombers and shot down four of them."
FYI Sgt Douglas Berger MSgt Mike Brown; MBTI-CP; MA, Ph.D. CPL Patrick Brewbaker Cpl David Beck Col Joel Anderson LCpl Emanuel W. LCpl Steve Wininger Cpl Joshua CaldwellMaj Lawrence Celli Sgt Justin DavisCrowe GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad SPC Americo Garcia Sgt (Join to see) Cpl (Join to see) LtCol Dave Jonas Sgt Jay JonesCWO3 (Join to see) Cpl Kelly Kendall
Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson and his US 2nd Marine Raider Battalion at a camp...HD Stock Footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtYA4u_wmwQ
Here is an extensive timeline background on the 1942 operations on Guadalcanal for continuity.
Guadalcanal Campaign Timeline from ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=9
25 May 1942 Engineers and staff officers of the Japanese 25th Air Flotilla and 8th Base Force departed Rabaul, New Britain by flying boat to inspect prospective airfield building sites on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
27 May 1942 Engineers and staff officers of the Japanese 25th Air Flotilla and 8th Base Force arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands by flying boat to inspect prospective airfield building sites.
29 May 1942 Long range Catalina flying boats of No. 11 and No. 20 squadrons RAAF made their first raid against the Solomon Islands base at Tulagi, which had already been attacked by US carrier aircraft earlier in the month.
1 Jun 1942 Rear Admiral Sadayoshi Yamada asked Vice Admiral Nishizo Tsukahara for the authorization to build an airfield on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
18 Jun 1942 The first Allied air photographic reconnaissance mission over Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands was conducted by US 435th Bombardment Squadron.
25 Jun 1942 Ernest King ordered the preparation for an offensive in the lower Solomon Islands; Santa Cruz, Tulagi, and other nearby islands were to be assaulted by US Marines. To that end, US PBY Catalina aircraft bombed Tulagi. US Army also began to form occupation garrisons for the occupation of these islands. The planned launch date for the offensive was set for 1 Aug 1942.
26 Jun 1942 US Marine Corps Major General Alexander Vandegrift received word that Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings in the Solomon Islands were being planned.
30 Jun 1942 At a meeting headed by Ernest King and George Marshall, US military leadership finally settled their inter-service rivalry by moving the boundary of SOWESPAC (South West Pacific Command) and SOPAC (South Pacific Command) by 1 degree, or 60 miles, in order to facilitate the planned assault on Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
2 Jul 1942 The US 1st Marine Division's intelligence officer departed Wellington, New Zealand for Australia as part of the preparation efforts for the upcoming Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings in the Solomon Islands.
4 Jul 1942 Allied reconnaissance reported that the Japanese had begun building an airfield on Guadalcanal.
5 Jul 1942 Joseph Rochefort's cryptanalytic team in Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii decrypted an intercepted Japanese Navy radio message noting that engineering units were en route to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands to construct an airfield.
6 Jul 1942 Japanese construction crews arrived at Lunga Point, Guadalcanal.
6 Jul 1942 Kinryu Maru, another transport, and five destroyers arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands from Truk, Caroline Islands, disembarking Japanese 11th Establishment Unit, 13th Establishment Unit, 100 trucks, 4 heavy tractors, 6 steam rollers, 2 generators, 2 locomotives with cars, and other equipment necessary for building an airfield.
8 Jul 1942 Chester Nimitz issued the final plan for the lower Solomon Islands offensive scheduled to be launhed in Aug 1942.
9 Jul 1942 The construction of the Japanese airfield at Lunga Point, Guadalcanal began.
10 Jul 1942 The US Joint Chiefs of Staff issued the order to attack and occupy Tulagi and Guadalcanal.
16 Jul 1942 The Japanese began the construction of an airfield on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
17 Jul 1942 A B-17 aircraft of US 435th Bombardment Squadron conducted a photograph reconnaissance mission over Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. USMC Lieutenant Colonel Merrill Twining and Major William McKean were on board the aircraft; upon seeing the Japanese progress on the Guadalcanal airfield, he noted "I hope they build a good one. We are going to use it."
18 Jul 1942 A USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, with two US Marine Corps observers aboard, flew a reconnaissance mission over Gavutu, Guadalcanal, and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
20 Jul 1942 US 1st Marine Division issued the Operation Watchtower plans for the invasion of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
23 Jul 1942 The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in Washington DC, United States, fearful that the completion of the Japanese airfield on Guadacanal in the Solomon Islands might signal a renewed enemy advance in the South Pacific that could threaten US aid to New Zealand and Australia, agreed to Marine deployments to secure the lines of communication (Operation Watchtower).
28 Jul 1942 American PBY Catalina aircraft bombed Tulagi.
31 Jul 1942 USAAF began a 7-day bombardment against Tulagi and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, the Allied invasion force (75 warships and transports with 16,000 men on aboard) for Guadalcanal departed from Fiji.
6 Aug 1942 In the evening, construction crews at the Japanese airfield at Lunga Point, Guadalcanal were given extra rations of sake for being ahead of schedule.
7 Aug 1942 US Marines landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands with the aim of safeguarding the sea supply lines between Australia and America and to form the first of the island "stepping stones" which would carry the Americans across the Pacific to Japan; the airfield on the island provided the Marines with a vital facility. Just across the water to the north, Brigadier General William H. Rupertus, Deputy Commander of the US 1st Marine Division, led an assault on Tulagi. Lieutenant Colonel Merritt A. Edson's 1st Raider Battalion landed first, followed by Lieutenant Colonel Harold E. Rosecran's 2nd Battalion 5th Marines. The Japanese defenders put up a much stiffer resistance than their comrades on Guadalcanal but by nightfall Edsons's Marines had reached the former British residency overlooking Tulagi's harbour and dug in for the night on a hill overlooking the Japanese final positions. At the same time the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines had fought their way through to the north shore clearing the sector of enemy positions, after which they moved into support of the Raiders. The days fighting had cost the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines 56 men killed and wounded, whilst the 1st Raiders had suffered 99 casualties.
8 Aug 1942 26 Japanese G4M bombers and 12 Zero fighters based in Rabaul, New Britain attacked US ships off Guadalcanal at 1200 hours, damaging troop transport USS George F. Elliot and destroyer USS Jarvis (14 were killed); 18 G4M and 2 Zero aircraft were lost on this mission.
8 Aug 1942 In the morning, 7 Japanese cruisers and 1 destroyer under Gunichi Mikawa departed Kavieng, New Ireland and Rabaul, New Britain, sailing south without being detected; after sundown, the force caught the Allied warships by surprise off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands; the Battle of Savo Island would result in the sinking of 3 US cruisers, 1 Australian cruiser, and 1 US destroyer; 1,077 US personnel were killed in this battle.
8 Aug 1942 US Marines captured the unfinished Japanese Lunga Point Airfield at Guadalcanal at 1600 hours, which would later renamed Henderson Field by the Americans. The US Marines also captured Tulagi (307 Japanese killed, 3 Japanese captured, 45 Americans killed), Gavutu, and Tanambogo (476 Japanese killed, 20 Japanese and Koreans captured, 70 Americans killed) islands in the afternoon.
9 Aug 1942 The United States Navy retreated from the Guadalcanal area due to Japanese air attacks without being able to unload all supplies for the Marines on shore.
10 Aug 1942 Stranded, US Marines prepared artillery and defensive positions at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, in Japan, radio broadcast announced that Japanese air attacks had thus far sunk 28 Allied ships in the Guadalcanal area.
11 Aug 1942 US Marines, using captured Japanese bulldozer and various equipment, continued the construction of Lunga Point Airfield on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
12 Aug 1942 Admiral Robert Ghormley ordered US Navy Task Force 63 to devote full effort to transport supplies and personnel to Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
12 Aug 1942 US Marine Lieutenant Colonel Frank Goettge's 25-man reconnaissance patrol was attacked by Japanese troops west of Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; only 3 survived.
12 Aug 1942 William Sampson, flying a PBY Catalina aircraft, became the first pilot to have landed at Lunga Point Airfield (later Henderson Field) on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
14 Aug 1942 Japanese radio broadcast announced that Japanese air attacks had thus far sunk 29 Allied warships, 11 transports in the Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands area at a mere cost of 21 aircraft; in actuality, the Allied had only lost 6 ships.
15 Aug 1942 Destroyers USS Colhoun, USS Gregory, USS Little, and USS McKean made the first supply mission for US Marines at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
16 Aug 1942 In the Caroline Islands, Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki and 916 men departed Truk aboard 6 destroyers for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. They were tasked to recapture the Lunga Point Airfield. The remainder of the 28th Infantry Regiment embarked on slower transports, aiming to arrive a few days later.
16 Aug 1942 The captured Japanese Lunga Point Airfield at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands was renamed Henderson Field by the Americans.
18 Aug 1942 Six Japanese destroyers delivered 916 troops to Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; about 400 of them were of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Japanese Infantry Regiment who landed at Taivu Point, while the other about 500 were of the Yokosuka 5th Special Naval Landing Force who landed at Kokumbona; this was the first Japanese reinforcement of Guadalcanal by warships.
18 Aug 1942 The Americans declared that the construction of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands completed.
19 Aug 1942 At Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, the forward echelon of Marine Aircraft Group 23 (19 F4F fighters and 12 SBD-3 dive bombers) arrived.
19 Aug 1942 Japanese destroyers Kagero, Kagikaze, Maikaze, Urakaze, Isokaze, and Hamakaze landed 916 men at Taivu Point, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands at 0100 hours. Men of Company L, US 5th Marine Regiment attacked a Japanese construction battalion west of the Matanikau River at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands at midday. On the same day, Company I of the same regiment conducted an amphibious raid further west at Kokumbona. Out at sea, Japanese destroyer Hagikaze was damaged by a bomb during an attack by US B-17 bombers; 33 were killed, 13 were wounded.
20 Aug 1942 770 Japanese troops under Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki reached within a few miles of Henderson Field at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands by 0430 hours. During the day, Henderson Field received 31 US Marine fighter aircraft (19 Wildcat fighters and 12 Dauntless dive bombers) from USS Long Island, allowing air supply and evacuation of wounded to begin between Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal; the small air fleet at Henderson Field was dubbed "Cactus Air Force". In the evening, Ichiki gave the order to move foward, running into the US Marines defensive perimeter at Tenaru River by surprise around midnight.
21 Aug 1942 The first major assault by Japanese troops on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands by Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki and his 770 men commenced at about 0000 hours with poor intelligence that led him to severely underestimate American strength. At 0130 hours, a wave of 100 Japanese troops rushed across the river, supported by machine guns and mortar fire, only to be mowed down at the line manned by 2,500 Marines. At 0230 hours, another wave of 150 to 200 Japanese rushed again, suffering similar fates. A third wave attacked at 0500 hours, again suffering near 100% casualty rate. At 0700 hours, US 1st Marine Regiment counterattacked supported by light tanks and aircraft, enveloping and destroying the remnants of 2nd Battalion of Japanese 28th Infantry Regiment. The Battle of the Tenaru (Ilu) River ended with the Japanese suffering 740 killed (including Ichiki) and 15 captured; the Americans suffered 44 killed. During the day, men of the 2nd Battalion of the US 5th Regiment arrived at Guadalcanal from Tulagi as reinforcements.
22 Aug 1942 5 P-400 aircraft of the USAAF 67th Fighter Squadron joined the Cactus Air Force at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.
22 Aug 1942 US and Japanese supplying destroyers made contact in the Savo Sound off Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; Japanese destroyer Kawakaze disabled destroyer USS Blue by torpedo at 0359 hours (killing 9; she would be scuttled on the following day).
23 Aug 1942 After dark, Japanese destroyer Kagero bombarded Henderson Field from nearby Savo Sound, causing little damage.
23 Aug 1942 The remainder of Japanese 28th Infantry Regiment (1,411 troops) and several hundred Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops departed Truk, Caroline Islands aboard 3 transports for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; they were escorted by a powerful fleet of cruisers and destroyers up close and an even larger force, including fleet carriers and battleships, from a distance; at 0950 hours, the convoy was spotted by a US PBY Catalina aircraft, but the resulting carrier strike launched at 1410 hours failed to locate the convoy.
24 Aug 1942 US Marine Corps Major John L. Smith's VMF-223 Squadron based on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands accompanied by five USAAF P-39 fighters intercepted twenty-seven Japanese aircraft, shooting down ten bombers and fighters. Captain Marion E. Carl, who was to become the first USMC ace of the war, scored three of the kills. His Commanding Officer Major Smith would become the third Wildcat pilot to be awarded the Medal of Honour. Three Wildcat fighters were lost in the engagement. On the same day, 11 US Navy dive bombers arrived at Henderson Field as reinforcements.
25 Aug 1942 US Navy SBD Dauntless dive bombers damaged light cruiser Jintsu and destroyer Uzuki off Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
27 Aug 1942 9 USAAF P-40 fighters arrived at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
28 Aug 1942 General Harukichi Hyakutake attempted to reinforce Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands with 3,500 men, but the convoy was detected, attacked by Henderson Field-based US aircraft at 1805 hours, and turned back. Japanese destroyer Asagiri was sunk (122 were killed, 270 survived), and destroyers Shirakumo (2 were wounded) and Yugiri (32 were killed) were damaged; US Marine Corps lost only one aircraft in the engagement. As another Japanese fleet successfully landed troops at Taivu Point at night, it would convince the Japanese to shift strategy to reinforce only at night; these night time supply runs would later be nicknamed "Tokyo Express" by the Americans.
30 Aug 1942 Japanese aircraft attacked and sank destroyer transport USS Colhoun in the Savo Sound north of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands at 1400 hours; 51 were killed, 95 survived. Overnight, Japanese destroyer transports landed 1,000 troops on Guadalcanal.
30 Aug 1942 The rear echelon of US Marine Aircraft Group 23 arrived at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
31 Aug 1942 Before dawn, the newly arrived 1,000 fresh troops (delivered by 8 destroyers before the previous midnight) began organizing an attack toward Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. During the day, the USMC 1st Raider Battalion and the USMC 1st Parachute Battalion arrived at Guadalcanal from Tulagi as reinforcements.
1 Sep 1942 US 6th Naval Construction Battalion arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands aboard USS Betelgeuse; the unit was tasked to improve and expand Henderson Field.
4 Sep 1942 After dark, Japanese destroyers Yudachi, Hatsuyuki, and Murakumo delivered 1,000 Japanese troops at Taivu, Guadalcanal.
4 Sep 1942 Japanese barges attempting to bring artillery and heavy equipment to Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands were sunk off Santa Isabel Island by US aircraft based in Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.
4 Sep 1942 US Marine Corps 1st Raider Battalion conducted a reconnaissance mission on Savo Island, Solomon Islands, reporting it to be free of Japanese troops.
5 Sep 1942 Japanese destroyers Yudachi, Hatsuyuki, and Murakumo, having just disembarked 1,000 troops at Taivu, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands before midnight on the previous day, shelled Henderson Field. As a US Navy PBY Catalina aircraft dropped flares to illuminate the battlefield, Yudachi took advantage of the lighting, spotting destroyer-transports USS Gregory and USS Little in Savo Sound. Yudachi promptly sank both of them with gunfire off Lunga Point; 22 were killed aboard USS Gregory, 62 were killed aboard USS Little. After dawn, US aircraft based in Henderson Field sank Japanese barges attempting to bring heavy equipment onto Guadalcanal.
8 Sep 1942 At Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, Japanese troops began marching toward the US positions at Lunga. 813 men of the US Marine Corps 1st Raider Battalion landed at Taivu, destroying or capturing food, ammunition, medical supplies, documents, and a radio to disrupt the Japanese advance. After dark, Japanese cruiser Sendai and eight destroyers bombarded the US naval base on nearby Tulagi Island.
11 Sep 1942 During the day, USS Saratoga delivered aircraft to Henderson Field at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Japanese destroyers landed troops at Guadalcanal; in the past two weeks, 6,000 men were successfully delivered to the island. Meanwhile, Japanese aircraft attacked Henderson Field.
12 Sep 1942 During the day, USS Wasp delivered aircraft to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. After dark, the three-day Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal began as 6,200 Japanese troops attacked positions held by 12,500 Americans; faulty Japanese intelligence reported that the American strength was only about 2,000. The Japanese attack was supported in the air by aircraft and from the sea by cruiser Sentai and three destroyers.
13 Sep 1942 Failing to break lines held by the US Marines near Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands overnight, the Japanese attack was called off at 0550 hours. The Japanese attack resumed after sundown, penetrating the American lines before being driven back by artillery fire coming from nearby Hill 123; 500 Japanese were killed in the night's attack while the US suffered 80 killed.
14 Sep 1942 The Japanese continued to attack the defensive line held by the US Marines near Henderson Field at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands without success.
15 Sep 1942 Japanese battleships bombarded American positions on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
17 Sep 1942 The American beachhead on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands was by this date 5 miles wide and 2.5 miles deep.
18 Sep 1942 4,180 men of US 7th Marine Regiment arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. The American beachhead strength was now at 22,500 men.
23 Sep 1942 US Marines began to move toward Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
26 Sep 1942 US Marines attacked Japanese positions at the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands in failure.
7 Oct 1942 Units from US 2nd, 5th, and 7th Marine Regiment crossed the Matanikau River in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands to raid Japanese positions.
9 Oct 1942 US Marine Fighter Squadron 121 and the rear echelon of the 2nd Marine Regiment of the US 2nd Marine Division arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
11 Oct 1942 Battle of Cape Esperance off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands brought an overnight victory to the US Navy.
11 Oct 1942 USS Helena assumed position west of Savo Island, Solomon Islands in darkness, awaiting an incoming Japanese task force.
12 Oct 1942 Japanese cruiser Furutaka maneuvered herself in between flagship Aoba and American ships during Battle of Cape Esperance, saving the flagship but causing her own demise.
12 Oct 1942 USS Helena assisted in the sinking of Japanese heavy cruiser Furutaka and destroyer Fubuki.
13 Oct 1942 In the United States, the American public was made aware of the losses at the Battle of Savo Island.
13 Oct 1942 Japanese battleships Haruna and Kongo bombarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, destroying more than 40 American aircraft on the ground; they retired up New Georgia Sound at 29 knots.
13 Oct 1942 The 164th Infantry Regiment became the first US Army unit on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
14 Oct 1942 Before dawn, six Japanese destroyers landed 1,000 troops on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
15 Oct 1942 After a naval bombardment, 3,000 to 4,000 men of Japanese 230th and 16th Infantry Regiments landed at Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Despite interference from US Marine Corps SBD aircraft, 80% of the men and supplies successfully made to shore. With the arrival of these reinforcements, General Hyakutake ordered a new offensive against Henderson Field to take place on 18 Oct.
16 Oct 1942 Japanese cruisers bombarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. During the day, US Marine Aircraft Group 14 under Lieutenant Colonel Albert Cooley relieved Marine Aircraft Group 23 as the unit in charge of maintaining Henderson Field.
17 Oct 1942 Japanese cruisers bombarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
18 Oct 1942 During the night, Japanese warships again shelled Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
20 Oct 1942 A Japanese combat patrol, supported by two tanks, was driven back by men of the 3rd Battalion of the US 1st Marine Regiment west of the Matanikau River.
20 Oct 1942 Japanese Lieutenant General Masao Maruyama delayed the planned assault on Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands until 22 Oct 1942.
23 Oct 1942 Amidst heavy mortar and artillery barrages, Japanese tanks attempted to cross the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; while some successfully crossed, all were eventually driven back by US Marines.
25 Oct 1942 After nightfall, Japanese destroyers attacked American shipping in the Sealark Channel between the Florida Islands and Taivu Point of Guadalcanal.
25 Oct 1942 Before dawn, the Japanese launched an offensive on the southern flank of the American defensive line at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, aiming to capture Henderson Field; US Marines repeatedly drove back the waves of attacks.
26 Oct 1942 Men of the 1st Battalion of US 164th Infantry Division repulsed a Japanese attack on the southern flank of the Lunga Perimeter at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, another attack against Hill 67, initially penetrating into the American line, was eventually driven back by US Marines.
31 Oct 1942 US Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 132 and US Marine Fighter Squadron 211 began to arrive in sections at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
1 Nov 1942 After sundown, men of the 2nd Battalion of US 7th Marine Regiment advanced east across the base of Koli Point to the Metapona River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands to investigate reported Japanese activity.
2 Nov 1942 Two 155mm gun batteries, one of the US Army and the other US Marine Corps, landed in the Lunga Perimeter on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
3 Nov 1942 Three US Marine battalions attacked Japanese positions west of Point Cruz on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
4 Nov 1942 The Americans divided the areas of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands under their control into two sectors, with US Marine Corps Brigadier General William Rupertus overseeing the East Sector and US Army Brigadier General Edmund Sebree overseeing the West Sector. On the same day, US Army 164th Infantry Regiment and US Marine 2nd Raider Battalion marched toward Koli Point to reinforce the 7th Marine Regiment.
5 Nov 1942 The US 8th Marine Regiment and the 1st Battalion of US 10th Marine Regiment arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. US Navy Construction Battalion personnel arrived at Aola Bay, about 40 miles east of the Lunga River, to begin construction of a new airfield; they were guarded by two US Army battalions and a number of US Marine raiders. Finally, also on the same date, US Marine Major General Vandegrift ordered the US Marine 2nd Raider Battalion to move toward Koli Point in an attempt to cut off any Japanese fleeing east.
6 Nov 1942 The US 7th Marine Regiment crossed the Nalimbiu River near Koli Point on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, attacking eastward.
7 Nov 1942 US Marine Corps Brigadier General Louis Woods relieved US Marine Corps Brigadier General Roy Geiger as the commander of air operations at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
8 Nov 1942 The 164th Infantry Regiment and the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the US 7th Marine Regiment moved east toward Koli Point on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands in an attempt to envelope the Japanese forces in that area.
8 Nov 1942 William Halsey inspected Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Staying overnight, he personally experienced a Japanese naval bombardment which he later admitted filled him with fright.
9 Nov 1942 The US 7th Marine Regiment and the 2nd Brigade of the US Army 164th Infantry Regiment began an attack on the Japanese troops at Gavaga Creek, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
10 Nov 1942 The US 2nd Marine Regiment, US 8th Marine Regiment, and the US Army 164th Regiment attacked unsuccessfully westward from Point Cruz toward Kokumbona on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
11 Nov 1942 The Japanese force at Gavaga Creek, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, under a combined US Marine and US Army attack since 9 Nov, began to fall back toaward the Metapona River to avoid envelopment. Meanwhile, the US Army 182nd Infantry Regiment (less the 3rd Batalion) arrived at Guadalcanal.
12 Nov 1942 6,000 American troops landed on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
13 Nov 1942 After dark, Japanese cruisers challenged the US naval forces again by coming close to shore and bombarding Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
13 Nov 1942 Portland was struck with a torpedo in her starboard quarter during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Third Battle of Savo Island). The torpedo explosion took off Portland's two inboard propellers, jammed the rudder at five degrees to starboard, and froze the No 3 main turret. Portland could only steam in circles but still managed to fire her forward main batteries effectively, starting fires on the Japanese battleship Hiei and sinking the abandoned destroyer Yudachi.
13 Nov 1942 The First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended before dawn with the US Navy task force under Rear Admiral Daniel Callahan driving off a Japanese naval bombardment group.
13 Nov 1942 USS Helena detected Japanese warships with her radar off Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands at 0124 hours, but poor communications and general confusion caused a lack of proper action from the task force. The First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal was joined after the two sides sighted each other. USS Helena assisted in the sinking of destroyer Akatsuki and seriously damaged destroyer Amatsukaze. Captain Gilbert Hoover, commanding officer of USS Helena and the senior surviving US officer, gave the order for all Americans to disengage from battle after 40 minutes of fighting.
14 Nov 1942 After dark, the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal began with Japanese ships wiping out the American destroyer screen.
15 Nov 1942 Henderson Field a Marine Corps Air Base and was placed under the command of Colonel William Fox.
15 Nov 1942 The Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended in the early hours of the day, with the Americans fighting off the Japanese attack with effective use of radar; four surviving Japanese transports were able to accomplish their missions by delivering 2,000 troops to Guadalcanal, albeit without most of their heavy equipment.
18 Nov 1942 Men of the US Army and US Marine attacked Japanese positions near Kokumbona and the Poha River at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
22 Nov 1942 The Japanese halted a combined US Army and US Marine attack at the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
24 Nov 1942 US Marines advanced to Poho, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
25 Nov 1942 Over the course of the past 3 days, aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force 3rd Reconnaissance Squadron, US Navy Patrol Squadron 12, US Army 12th, 68th, and 70th Fighter Squadrons, and US Army 69th Bombardment Squadron arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
29 Nov 1942 Top American leadership in Washington DC agreed to relieve the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands with the US Army 25th Infantry Division. After sundown, off Tassafaronga Point, US Navy vessels turned back a small group of Japanese destroyers attempting to supply the Japanese garrison.
30 Nov 1942 Near Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, US cruisers ambushed a night time fast destroyer convoy led personally by Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka. Tanaka's quick thinking led to a Japanese victory in the Battle of Tassafaronga.
1 Dec 1942 The US 1st Marine Aviation Engineer Battalion relieved the US 6th Naval Construction Battalion on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
4 Dec 1942 US 2nd Marine Raider Battalion's "Carlson's Patrol" came to a conclusion at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
7 Dec 1942 American forces at Guadalcanal marked the first anniversary of Pearl Harbor by shelling Japanese positions from dawn to dusk in what they term a "Hate Shoot".
8 Dec 1942 The 3rd Infantry Regiment and the 132nd Regimental Combat Team, both of the US Army, arrived in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
9 Dec 1942 American operations on Guadalcanal, previously conducted by the US Marines under Major General Alexander Vandegrift, were turned over to the US Army under Major General Alexander Patch. The 1st Marine Division began its withdraw to Australia.
17 Dec 1942 US Marines captured Mt. Austen, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, troops of the 35th Infantry Regiment of the US Army 25th Division arrived on the island.
26 Dec 1942 Brigadier General Francis P. Mulcahy, currently the commanding officer of the US 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, relieved Brigadier General L. E. Woods as the commanding general of the Cactus Air Force on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
31 Dec 1942 Japanese Emperor Showa allowed his troops to evacuate Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
1 Jan 1943 The US 2nd Marine Aviation Engineer Battalion and the US Army 27th Division arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
4 Jan 1943 The US Army 161st Infantry, the US 6th Marine Regiment, and the headquarters of the US 2nd Marine Division arrived at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
6 Jan 1943 Brigadier General Alphonse DeCarre assumed command of all US Marines on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands except for Marine aviation units.
10 Jan 1943 The US Army 25th Division launched an offensive out of the Hill 66 area between the northwest and southwest forks of the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
12 Jan 1943 On Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, the US 6th Marine Regiment and the artillery of the US 2nd Marine Division were re-assigned to a joint Army-Marine division which also included the US Army 82nd Infantry Regiment, US Army 147th Infantry Regiment, and artillery of the US Army Americal Division.
13 Jan 1943 The US 2nd Marine Division began a westward offensive on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
20 Jan 1943 The US Army 25th Division began an offensive toward Kokumbona, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
23 Jan 1943 The US Army 25th Division captured the high ground south of Kokumbona, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
25 Jan 1943 The US Composite Army-Marine Division made contact with the US Army 25th Army Division near Kokumbona, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
26 Jan 1943 The US Army-Marine joint division continued to attack westward along the northern coast of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands intending to envelope Japanese positions.
31 Jan 1943 The US 2nd Marine Regiment and 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment boarded ship to leave Guadalcanal. Some of the men were so debilitated by malaria they had to be carried on board. Observers noted that they looked like young men grown old "with their skins cracked and furrowed and wrinkled." The 2nd Marine Regiment, heading to Wellington, New Zealand for the first time, left behind on the island 263 dead.
31 Jan 1943 US Marine Corps aircraft from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands sank Japanese transport Toa Maru between Vella Lavella and Kolombangara.
1 Feb 1943 Japanese troops began to be evacuated from Guadalcanal by destroyers commanded by Rear Admiral Shintaro.
4 Feb 1943 Rear Admiral Shintaro's destroyers extracted 3,921 Japanese soldiers from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands successfully, but four of his destroyers were damaged by air attack from Henderson Field.
7 Feb 1943 The Japanese Army completed Operation Ke, the evacuation of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, as the final 1,796 soldiers were evacuated by 18 ships.
9 Feb 1943 Allied authorities declared Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands secure after Japan evacuated its remaining forces from the island.
15 Mar 1943 The Japanese Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan issued the Joint Army-Navy Central Agreement on Southeast Asia Operation order, which was largely a defensive plan with the only offensive element being the re-establishment of air superiority over Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
25 Mar 1943 A Japanese reconnaissance flight over Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands discovered about 300 Allied aircraft at the base.
7 Jun 1943 The Japanese began a renewed air offensive against Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
17 Jun 1943 In the last major air battle over Guadalcanal, Captain William D. Wells (US 8th Fighter Group) led his flight of P-39 Airacobra fighters into a formation of 30-35 Japanese Aichi Type 99 naval bombers and shot down four of them."
FYI Sgt Douglas Berger MSgt Mike Brown; MBTI-CP; MA, Ph.D. CPL Patrick Brewbaker Cpl David Beck Col Joel Anderson LCpl Emanuel W. LCpl Steve Wininger Cpl Joshua CaldwellMaj Lawrence Celli Sgt Justin DavisCrowe GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad SPC Americo Garcia Sgt (Join to see) Cpl (Join to see) LtCol Dave Jonas Sgt Jay JonesCWO3 (Join to see) Cpl Kelly Kendall
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Great article David!
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